MUNICIPAL ENFORCEMENT PRACTICEOur firm has been involved in the area of municipal enforcement both in the context of statutory enforcement under the Municipal Government Act and Safety Codes Act and their predecessors, and in the area of municipal prosecutions, since its inception over 70 years ago. Enforcement services provided by the Municipal Enforcement Practice Group include the preparation and review of enforcement related documents, including enforcement orders and charging documents, and the provision of legal advice and guidance to municipal clients in the context of inspections and investigations relating to land use, safety codes, nuisance and unsightly premises, animal control, business licensing, noise, traffic control and other bylaw matters. Our lawyers have extensive experience in representing municipalities in the prosecution of bylaw and safety code offences before the Provincial Court of Alberta, as well as in civil proceedings brought under the provisions of the Municipal Government Act before the Court of Queen’s Bench and the Court of Appeal.

Our role as the dedicated municipal prosecutors for a number of municipalities, involving the handling of thousands of charges every year, has allowed our lawyers to hone effective and efficient protocols for the successful prosecution of municipal offences. To successfully and efficiently conduct such prosecutions and to provide a high level of service in relation to all enforcement processes available to a municipality, our lawyers have developed close working relationships with the Court, provincial and local police and peace officer services, court liaison personnel, and municipal enforcement officers.

The result is our ability to work seamlessly with such enforcement personnel resulting in the successful inspection, investigation and enforcement. We have carried these relationships beyond individual municipalities to the enforcement world generally through our involvement with organizations such as the Alberta Association of Community Peace Officers, the Alberta Municipal Enforcement Association and our role as instructors for the enforcement modules of the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension Planning Law course.